blackboard:
Water Experiments
Miss Mackle had an empty aquarium, plastic containers, and four jugs of water set up on a side table. Mary set her bag down on a desktop.
âThese are the materials you need to do my experiment,â she explained as she pointed to each one. âA glass, oil, food coloring, and a spoon. Now I will tell you about each step.
âFirst, you fill the glass with water. Iâm adding orange coloring for Halloween.
âThen you drop a spoonful of oil in the glass.
âSee what happens?â
âI canât see,â Sidney complained.
âMe either,â Ida said.
Mary held the glass up in the air. âThe oil and water do not mix. The oil is just floating around the top like beads.â
âCool,â Dexter said.
âI knew that already,â Harry said.
Mary shot Harry a look.
âWonderful job, Mary!â Miss Mackle exclaimed as she recorded a grade in her red book.
Suddenly, Harry sneezed.
Right on the back of Maryâs head.
Mary turned around. âAaaugh!â she complained. âWhy donât you use a tissue ?â
âDonât need to,â Harry said. Then he pulled a white hankie out of his back pocket. âSee?â
It had two big boogers on it.
âYouâre so gross! â Mary groaned.
When she turned around, Harry showed me the boogers up close. They were just raisins.
âItâs an old joke,â he whispered. âBut Mary fell for it.â
Harry and his Halloween tricks! They were just beginning....
âHarry Spooger?â Miss Mackle called. âYouâre next.â
Mary folded her arms.
Harry took his backpack with him to the front of the room. Carefully he put the aquarium tank on Maryâs desk and started filling it with water.
After we watched him empty three jugs into the tank, Harry opened up his backpack.
âSee if you can guess which things will sink or float,â he said.
First he pulled out a pumpkin. âWho thinks this will sink?â
Everybody raised their hands.
Harry dropped the pumpkin into the water. It made a big splash, dipped under the water, and then popped back up!
âIt floats!â everyone shouted.
âTricked ya!â Harry grinned. Next, he held up a potato. Harry had drawn a face on it with a black marker. It looked like a shrunken head. âDo you think this will sink or float?â
âFloat!â everyone replied.
Harry dropped the potato into the tank.
It sank to the bottom.
âTricked ya again!â Harry snorted.
Mary started to pout. âIâll get the next one!â she said. âFor sure!â
Harry cackled as he held up one purple grape. I noticed there was a black dot colored in the middle. It looked like an eyeball. âSink or float?â
This time no one called out anything. People were still thinking.
âFloat,â Mary said first.
âFloat!â some other people agreed.
âSink,â said Song Lee.
Harry dropped the purple grape into the tank. It sank to the bottom next to the potato.
Mary made a face.
Harry explained everything like he was a professor. âIf something has air pockets, like a pumpkin or lemon, it floats. If itâs solid, like a potato or grape, it sinks. I tricked ya today in science. Iâll trick ya some more on Halloween!â
Most people groaned, but Song Lee and I smiled. Miss Mackle clapped. âGreat job, Harry.â
Song Lee went last. She filled a plastic jack-oâ-lantern with water. It had a short rope tied to the handle. âI will show you how centrifugal force works.â
First she stepped as far as she could away from the blackboard. âWill the people in the front row please put their heads down?â
They did, but their eyes looked up.
Then Song Lee twirled the bucket over her head. We gasped as she swung it around and around.
Miss Mackleâs eyes almost popped out of their sockets. The water stayed in
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